Potential consumers are exposed to many products used in movies, television shows, live events, recorded video, and other media. Unfortunately, if the potential customers wish to acquire such products, few leads exist to direct the potential customers in their pursuit of these products. Sales never materialize and desires remain unfulfilled.
In some of the areas of implementation, the historical segregation of advertising and marketing messages from the entertainment and news content around which they are scheduled has been significantly challenged in recent years with the advent of new technologies enabling consumers and resellers (users) of the entertainment and news content to efficiently dilute, skip, or remove these advertising and marketing messages. Since the purveyors of these advertising and marketing messages typically sponsor the content around which the messaging is scheduled, this has proven problematic for producers and distributors of the entertainment and news content, who have sought new ways to retain the viability of their media for carrying their sponsors' messages.
In these areas of implementation, one of the most common means for retaining this viability is through product placement and obvious sponsorship depicted within the entertainment and news presentations themselves. Unfortunately, conventional opportunities for product placement and sponsorship are limited to the obviousness of a brand logo or name on a wardrobe or prop item—a shirt label, camera brand name, or distinct vehicle body type, for example. Paying sponsors expect the object to be shown in such a way that a viewer can distinguish the sponsor's brand from competitor brands in the same product market category. This requires exceptional visual and/or aural attention which is not afforded to all shown objects that occur incidentally in a presentation, and furthermore threatens to undermine the artistic or objective credibility of the entertainment and news presentation. Thus, opportunities for sponsorship and product placement are limited in conventional entertainment, news, and other presentations.